Let us know if you have any questions. Stay Scratch-y!

@@NorthernBrewerTV We may just take you up on that :)

Before I try to answer the quesiton, let me start by saying what you might be looking for is a true counter-pressure bottle filler (which the Last Straw is not). Here is one we suggest: www.northernbrewer.com/products/counter-pressure-filler. My NB coworkers says for regular gravity beers the Last Straw will be fine for six months shelf life when stored cold. For barley wines and high gravity beers, it could be seen as indefinate shelf life as oxidation adds to the flavor. But personally I wouldn't want to risk my more precious brews. I myself am not the most expert person when it comes to this topic -- mainly because I pretty much only keg and then fill bottles just for sharing locally or shipping to friends who I know are going to enjoy them ASAP. The issue is that any beer bottled from keg via most (non counter-pressure) bottle fillers could pick up some oxygen in the process. Maybe not enough to stale or oxidize a beer in a week or month, but over time that oxygen could have negative effects on the beer -- depending on the beer. The method I suggest for bottling beers you know you want to age would be to bottle them separately (after fermentation and before kegging whatever amount you want to have kegged) and then priming them with priming solution... and/or possibly adding small dose of additional brewer's yeast or cask conditioning yeast if the beer is really clear and likely doesn't have much yeast left. This way there is a mini-fermentation inside the sealed bottle that uses up the potential oxygen and safeguards the quality of the bottle for a much longer time. If you really want to have long-term bottles but don't want to bottle and prime it, a counterpressure filler might be a smarter tool for for the job. (Chip)

Two other thoughts from another NB coworker: - If you purge the bottle of oxygen with the bottle filler, you would get rid of the majority of oxygen in the bottle. And, with the closed transfer from keg to bottle, the amount of oxygen you are adding has to be minimal. - You could still use the bottle filler and bottle condition if you are worried about dissolved oxygen. Just put the beer in the keg with the priming sugar, then use a low PSI to transfer into the bottle and bottle condition from there.

I'll also ask: have you used the Last Straw yet in the past month? How has it worked for you? Maybe your first batches bottled (if you've done any yet) could be a good test of longevity.

@@NorthernBrewerTV Chip, I really appreciate your in-depth response. I actually haven't used the Last Straw yet but I'm planning on using it this weekend. I brewed a Baltic porter with a friend, he paid for the ingredients and we brewed it on my equipment since he doesn't have any gear. Since he doesn't have a keg, I told him I would bottle half of it for him. I'll report back in with you after I go through the bottling process with the Last Straw if you're interested.

@@NorthernBrewerTV ​ @NorthernBrewerTV Did NB remove the Foamless Finish counter pressure attachment for the Last Straw? I heard that it had some issues with the design but I thought that might be more practical than buying a stand along counter pressure filler.

I am! I've been back at NB since July 2020 producing all the KZfaq content here and our growing catalog of Northern Brewer University online courses. I've also hosted a few videos here during that time that you'll find if you go back through the video listings between now and summer 2020. Cheers! Chip

So awesome! I really learned so much from your chop and brew stuff as well as the old brewing tv. Series.